


Rescue Mission Log

by Lunarium



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Background Relationships, Dark, Diary/Journal, Gen, Horror, some language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-05 20:30:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11021022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarium/pseuds/Lunarium
Summary: Years have passed since the expedition crew grew suddenly silent in the midst of the Silent World. On the twelfth anniversary, a young woman and her two brothers leave the safety of their homes in search for any clues as to their cousin’s disappearance.





	Rescue Mission Log

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Minutia_R](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minutia_R/gifts).



Rescue Mission Log: Day 1  
  
The tank has been successfully stolen and we’ve made trek across the field for a whole day. No incident whatsoever. We found exactly the one I was eyeing, the one with a small lab for analyzing any samples we find out in the field. Its absence will be noticed, but by the time they realize we took it, we’ll be deep into the Silent World. And I don’t think anyone would be dumb enough to come out here just to get a giant rat-looking tank. 

We remembered the old broken bridge and avoided it first thing. It was all part of our escape plan. I will not write more of that down here, in case we have to make this trip again and this gets confiscated before then. Best to keep this between my brothers and me. 

In the meantime, I’m just going to sit here and relax after that ordeal. The adrenaline of having stolen an official tank and committed who knows how many other violations is beginning to wear off. I’d like to just rest a bit while we sit here under the stars in uncharted territory. It sounds so romantic until you remember there might be some flesh-eating troll right outside our tank. 

My brothers and I have been planning this for years. We’re on a rescue mission, and we hope we’re not too late. 

The first time our parents told us the news, we though they were joking. The crew before us were besieged by beasts and trolls and I forgot what else, and suddenly all communication stopped. We didn’t believe them at first. Emil must be heading back and they were hiding the news from us, right? They wanted us to be surprised when he showed up home. 

But Mom was crying. But she always worried about something, so I thought she was fretting over something trivial again. And then weeks passed. She got worse. She almost committed suicide. We were all shocked, but after some time when she recovered we wondered if she was joking and Emil was coming back. Then she tried to kill herself again. That was when we realized no one was kidding. 

A funeral was held. We didn’t bury anyone. No bodies were ever found. Don’t think anyone ever made the effort to go look. We asked a lot of questions. None of them ever got answered. 

Of course, we cried, but soon we began to wonder. There was always something more to stories. 

As life went on, we planned. We got the best education we could afford. We all trained as Cleansers. We got the best of two worlds. And we rolled out a plan we began as early on as when I turned twelve. 

We saved all information we could of the expedition: father’s old maps keeping tracking where the crew had traveled before disappearing, notes on where they had spotted nests of trolls and giants, so we could be better prepared. We found Dad’s old logbook, buried under stacks of old discarded notebooks, where he had jotted everything the Finnish woman relayed to him through radio. We calculated how much necessities we needed. Fuel and food we needed. Weapons. Sets of clothes and blankets. Emergency flares. First aid kits. That sort of thing. 

You see, none of us are buying the “official” story. We never did, and what we’re doing now is not because of grief. We did plenty of crying already. After the tears dried up was when we began to smell the bullshit. It was customary to look for bodies. A boat was headed towards a port and they were supposed to meet there. But after the expedition crew went silent, no search party was sent out. No one even collected the tank. 

**What gives?** **_That’s our damn cousin they left for dead out there!_**

I’m getting angry. Simmer down. 

Anyhow, 

We saved money for supplies. Sune and Sophie played in a band. Håkan did everything from examining dead bodies to pleasuring living ones, and maybe a few more things better left off record. I worked several jobs at once, anything I could find, just to save up so we can have enough food for the trip. 

We’ve learned from the past crew. 

I think I can hear Sune and Håkan right now laughing with the door wide out. They’re celebrating the first night out by having a contest to see how far they can piss out into the Silent World. If a troll comes up and chomps on their crotch I’m not even going to feel sorry for them. 

Men.  
  


* * *

  
Rescue Mission Log: Day 4  
  
Sune is an idiot. He figured out how to contact his girlfriend Sophie through the radio and he’s been flirting with her all evening. I finally wrestled the headphones out of him after loudly flirting to Sophie over his shoulders. If he thinks I can’t steal his girlfriend from him, he’s got another thing coming for him! Just ask Håkan.

Or his friend Pär. 

We argued about it until Håkan nearly crashed into a massive tree. It was actually a sleeping giant but it had shoots branching out of its back like a tree. I think an entire school fused together along with the school yard. It’s kind of neat. In a morbid way. 

Not much chance for sightseeing. We didn’t want to risk all of our gears this early on, and there was little chance Emil and the others had joined in the league of tree-lovin trollies. 

By the way, Sophie seems nice.  


* * *

  
Rescue Mission Log: Day 10  
  
We’ve figured out a path that’ll take us where the crew were heading towards the extraction point. So far no sign of their abandoned pussy tank. 

Had a minor incident earlier today. We were having lunch when we heard scratching on the tank’s door and we were all ready to slam the door open and torch the troll to cinders, but nothing was there. 

It’s getting boring, and I’m sick of smelling piss every time Sune and Håkan play that ridiculous game. 

Sophie told me about these cookies she makes, and now I can’t stand the taste of anything we’ve got here. Thanks a lot, Sophie.  
  
  
  


* * *

  


 

I think I hear moaning. No, Håkan is not wanking. He an expert level stealth and can sneak up on you and you’d never know (but I always catch him at anything anyway.)

It’s not Sune either. He’s passed out dead somewhere near the radio. I’m not going to speculate what he and Sophie were doing. 

I think this is coming from outside again. There’s something out there near us. It sounds human. Of course it does. We should’ve driven the tank out of here after the incident earlier. We’ve heard trolls, but this is too human. Too alive. Could it be Emil? 

I don’t want to check behind the curtains without any of my brothers with me. I’ll never tell them but I’m scared. It sounds like it could be Emil, but it’s been YEARS since I’ve heard his voice.  
  
  


* * *

  
Rescue Mission Log: Day 11  
  


I told them I heard noises last night. Did not report feeling scared, of course. Checked the area for any signs of broken twigs or blood or any sign of something or some having passed by here. We found none. 

We all agreed it was best to just get as far from this location as we can. As far as any of father’s notes indicated, Emil shouldn’t be in this region. 

Håkan is driving the tank right now. I’m looking out the window every now and then. You know, even in the daytime it’s not very pretty.  
  


* * *

  
Rescue Mission Log: Day 14  
  
Now we’re talking!

Ran across a couple of trolls while we scouted an area that contained tracks. It’s been years but you could still vaguely make out the marks. We’re close to our friends. 

Instead we met some other friends. Ugly things. We easily took care of them, but it was nice to make use of our training out in the field. 

We collected samples afterwards. Håkan’s running them through right now. We’re going to see if they match up to the DNA samples we have of Emil and the Finns who were in our home.  


 

Update: No match. 

Doesn’t mean that Emil’s not dead. There were other crew with him and the trolls might be the other three. We went back to examine any clothing on them but there’s hardly anything you can make out in the ash now.  


  


* * *

  
Rescue Mission Log: Day 16  
  
It snowed the night before! We woke up to the streets covered in all white. Took the day off, cooked some of our rations over a campfire, and ate atop the tank as we studied the city. Felt like a family vacation. We joked and ate and laughed. It was kind of nice, actually. The snow lit up the view for us so we had a vantage point of where we were headed, and what place we would like to avoid.

It seems very little and a lot has changed from the last time the crew were here. We compared our observations with Tuuri’s notes and discovered that a herd of trolls were migrating eastward and laid their nests. This would be a fascinating area to study until you remember that these were once people.

I hope Emil isn’t one of them. I don’t like the idea of Emil laying eggs.  


  


* * *

  
Rescue Mission Log: Day 17  
  
The moaning returned last night.

I refused to open my eyes. 

If I had a sister I could snuggle up against her under our blankets and it wouldn’t be weird no matter how old we both were. I can’t do that with either of my brothers. Half the time Sune just wants to go back to banging his drums and banging his girlfriend, and I’m a little weirded out being near Håkan after knowing everything he’s done. It’s just this thin sheet of fabric protecting me from unknown horrors of the big, wide Silent World. 

We’ve located the old tank. We’re at our destined location and now we stay here until we find answers. 

Just to say, the state of the tank is so sad I almost began crying right there. Some trolls or beasts or something took it as a breeding nest and laid some eggs it in, and the babies have since hatched and crawled out. 

Our cousin used to sleep in there. The others used to live in there. 

There are even some BOOKS left in there! 

None of us dared to touch those. Why risk your life over some stupid golf manual?  


  


* * *

  
Rescue Mission Log: Day 18  
  
We found some bones by the roadside. The entire place looked dead and grey but the bones were still shining and the blood still bright red. They’re too small to be human. Håkan is looking them over right now.  


 

 

 

Update: They’re kitten bones. That can mean one of two things: 

  

    1) Cousin’s missing crew had a kitten. She may have survived, and these may have belonged to some of her brood. 

    Or, 

    2) These might not be related to the crew’s cat, but another family. Cats are still able to survive out here, better than humans apparently. That was how the crew found their kitten, after all. No one else can survive out here without provisions but these cats are able to slip under cracks and avoid the worst of the monsters. And they’re naturally immune. 

Conclusion? Inconclusive. There just isn’t telling whose kitten this belonged to, if any. We’re no where near finding out anything that happened to the original crew.

This is starting to suck. We’re no where closer to finding any info on Emil and the others’ whereabouts than we were when we started. It’s like we planned for years for this only for it to become the most boring trip to Trollville ever! 

And if Sune and Håkan don’t stop arguing I’m gonna scream!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  


 

 

 

 

 

We lost Sune.

The moaning started up again tonight, but this time Sune was awake. He yelled at me because he said that was Emil, so he ran out to find him. I heard screaming. I ran and woke up Håkan. By the time we got to the door there was blood on the ground and the door but no Sune. We searched around the tank and about a mile around but we still couldn’t find him or what took him. 

There is no way I’ll be able to sleep tonight.  


* * *

Day 20  
Sune hasn’t returned to us in any form. We’ve been searching whenever we get the chance. 

I’m done with this stupid mission. Maybe that was the whole point of their expedition. You cannot go to the Silent World. You’ll die. Period. We were stupid. We came out here. We’re going to die. Stupids. 

I don’t care if we never find stupid Emil or his stupid crew or the stupid crew cat. If they managed to live out here for over ten years then fine! I want to go back home NOW!!!  
  


* * *

  
Horrible sounds outside all evening. We're staying in. 

We don’t even want to risk looking out.  


* * *

  
Håkan thinks we should head back. We should just assume Sune died. 

This whole fucking thing was a disaster. 

We were better prepared than the old crew and things still blew in our faces. 

I  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**H** åkan died. 

I’m alone here. I barricaded the doors. His blood is still sticking to it. I can’t stop shaking. My two brothers are dead.

I don’t know what to do. I can’t stop shaking. I’m writing **J** UST to calm ~~MY **Ä** CH~~myself 

I was writing when noises started up and they were **L** OUD they were pounding on the door and I gave a ~~stat~~ start and Håkan went to take a look. And he had his gun with him in case it was a troll

But then all I hearing is screaming. Troll screaming and his. I ran to help him but all I see is his blood and it S **P** LATTERS all over the door frame and the walls and I can see the horror on his face and there was a troll leg piercing through his body. 

I’ **M** frozen and can’t do ANYTH **I** N **G**. 

He was already dead when the troll dragged him away. 

When I finally looked out nothing was out there. I locked the door shut. 

I’m stilling crying. ~~I’ve~~ ~~im~~ I’m never going to stop crying.  
  
  


* * *

  
This time, it’s a voice, and it’s soft and warm. I think it’s **H** åkan but it could just be Sune. It could also be Emil. He was pretty good at comforting you after you had a nightmare. Nothing’s scratching at the door, but someone is knocking. **M** om just to knock lIke that if I’ve been studying too long and forgot to eat.

I’m going to finish this up and answer the door.


End file.
